Councillor gives Corbyn a headache
LABOUR was plunged into a fresh controversy as anti-racism campaigners called on the party to expel an underfire North East councillor for a series of outrageous remarks.
But as they called for action against David Walls, he insisted he’ll be back from his temporary suspension.
Blyth town Coun David Walls was suspended from Labour in April over social media posts in which he used language campaigners have labelled “appalling”.
Coun Walls called the criticism “PC brigade nonsense”, and claimed he was being pushed out of the local party in a bid to stop him reforming it.
In one post on his personal Facebook page, Coun Walls described asylum seekers as “boat people”.
In another, he used a slur referring to Italians and said the “f ***** g Jews” were “never skint” while quoting BBC series Peaky Blinders.
The councillor, who represents the Newsham ward on Blyth Town Council, said the slurs were used only in the context of a quote from the show, and continues to deny allegations of racism.
Since his suspension, however, controversial posts have continued to appear on his page.
He insisted he is “straight talking” and the posts, on his personal page, should be understood as “humour” or “seeking debate”.
These include one predicting Whitley Bay will become “Bensham [an area with a large orthodox Jewish community] by the sea” and that a destroyed former church in the town will soon be sold to become a synagogue.
The post adds “this is not antiSemitic or racist”.
Another post claims the burqa is “worn by Women in Muslim Countries because the Gangs Snack and Rape Women of another Tribe to Disrespect the Tribe” and that to defend themselves from this women “huddle like penguins do”.
Another claims that Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher’s policies in relation to school food show why “women should never be trusted with power” because “the PMT kicks in”.
Posting on the same publicly-available Facebook page on July 18, he wrote: “Just saying Peoples as I am not as Accused Anti-Semitic or Racist like the Political C **** have deemed me to STOP ME Reforming the Labour Party in Blyth Valley, but I will be Back from Suspension, then we will see how many Coffin’s I Need to Order for the Pensioner Old Guard Responsible for being PC Brigade with Own Agenda [sic].”
Coun Walls remains an elected town councillor, but pending investigation he is banned from the council’s Labour group meetings and other Labour Party activities.
With accusations of an institutional problem with anti-Semitism continuing to plague Labour, Herii Don, of campaigning group Stand Up To Racism North East, called on the party to act more quickly to expel him.
He said: “Some of the things this councillor has said are absolutely appalling.
“The town council and county council have both refused to act so it falls upon the Labour Party to finally take action against him.
“Coun Walls has mocked women, Muslims, Jewish people and referred to refugees as ‘boat people,’ yet somehow the Labour Party haven’t found that to be enough to expel him.
“The man is a bigot, and not fit to represent anyone. The Labour Party has a duty to send a message to other councillors and members that this behaviour cannot be tolerated.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of anti-Semitism and any other forms of discrimination extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms.
“All complaints are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”
The spokesperson was unable to provide an update on the investigation into Coun Walls.
Coun Walls said: “What they are saying is you’re not allowed to have a sense of humour. The PC brigade are so out of touch with the real world.
“I’ve got nothing to hide – I’m not a racist and I’m not an anti-Semite. I grew up in Cullercoats with many different cultures, when you’re brought up in that environment you don’t even think of the colour of people’s skin.
“I like to be controversial on my personal Facebook page to see what reactions I get from others. It’s not my official councillor page.”